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yetion1
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READY


« Reply #300 on: October 20, 2010, 10:15:44 pm »

Mrs Olivia Rowley

Head of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
County Hall
Wood Street
Wakefield
WF1

Ref: Featherstone planning and highways issues at cross roads Station Lane/ Wakefield Road


Dear Mrs Rowley

I regret that I have to waste my time and yours but a situation now exists in Featherstone that is significantly important enough to have to contact you personally. I have tried to ask your officers and departments concerned only to receive mixed responses, fobbing off, and incorrect information whilst the public of Featherstone have been left at risk of serious injury and near deaths, not to mention the many extra long traffic queues. After the events of the last two months and especially the last week I believe it only fair to ask you the boss and not the monkeys.

My concern is the Lidle planning application. The supermarket site has been passed by WMDC planning members. The highway planning in front has not! Or has it? Highways say yes? Andrew Wallhead says no? The WMDC website says yes subject to changes being heard on the 20th November. Planning stated that no works had begun and that the works that could be seen “are remedial works”. Tonight Nigel Stakes said not until the planning meeting. I would ask if the road alterations have passed when did they do so? If not what is really going on and most importantly whose name should be quoted as responsible?

The original highway report nearly two years ago said “no” and that “when someone was killed or injured they would have to CPO homes to put things right”. Since then WMDC has put up permanent signs on the highway stating a date when works would begin. It appears WMDC agree works can begin and have done so for some months. It appears that no plans existed as works started and that works were slowly dragged along until planning was granted. This has resulted on the busiest road junction in Featherstone (that is any match for a Wakefield junction) closed off paths and parts of roads for a time longer than necessary. Any works at all should have been carried out as quickly as possible to reduce congestion and public safety.

I have attached a number of documents containing correspondence and an independent report. Any clarity would be appreciated.

Featherstone and any possibility to improve should not be half a job. Over the years I realize we have buggar all in the way of help compared to Wakefield and Castleford and that every opportunity to gain a step forward should be fought for. There has never been a better chance to improve this junction. Sadly the opportunity appears to be the reverse. The junction concerned all ready is very busy. The same junction is shortly on top of its existing volumes of traffic to receive increases from;

300 new homes on the Girnhill estate
A supermarket with two entrances on to the same junction with 100,000 people per year
300 new homes on Pontefract road
150 new homes on the Lister Stacks
70 new homes on a site 150 yards from the Junction
The Nine Lakes visitors at aprox 500,000 per year
Aprox 12 new small house build sites
 
These figures are without all the new roads that lead to Featherstone and then meet this junction. Just to make things finally worse is the design of the junction. Two pedestrian islands that are to be placed and have begun being built will reduce the junction from 2 lanes to one lane. I do not think I need to explain the consequences nor that Featherstone will be gridlocked.

One final point is ironic as much as the five people that were nearly killed recently that Andrew Wallhead dismissed as irrelevant. On Tuesday work began on the Pedestrian islands. This was done by coning off the middle of the road with cones tied at the top with rope. Because of the cones the all ready tight turn was reduced. This has made a turn that HGVs now have to reverse and maneuver to get around whilst across the busy highway. In less than six hours a HGV passed the cones and hooked the rope. The HGV then drove up Station lane dragging the 40 ft rope with full sized cones attached. The implication for the workers never mind the public could have been again deadly. After calling WMDC contact centre and then highways it would have been easier to have not bothered and just bang my head against a wall, but hey, that’s the Featherstone I live in.

I would be very grateful for your opinion and response. When the bodies start piling up I am sure the insurance companies will wish to know who allowed this to happen especially when the public pointed it out. I would be even more grateful if a road junction fitting what is needed is created. As the head of WMDC I believe you have this power.

Regards Grin
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